Concentrations of epithelial neutrophil-activating peptide (ENA)-78, myeloperoxidase (MPO) and neutrophil elastase (NE) in pleural effusions and sera
| Malignant PE | Tuberculous PE | Infectious PE | Transudative PE | |
| Subjects n | 19 | 21 | 18 | 17 |
| ENA-78 ng·L−1 | ||||
| Pleural effusion | 88.0 (52.2–337.8)# | 73.0 (33.9–131.5)# | 2639.2 (448.8–5014.6)¶ | 36.1 (22.3–74.2)# |
| Serum | 1647.8 (1266.9–2835.7) | 1686.4 (1307.9–3421.6) | 1861.3 (1060.1–2276.1) | 1233.3 (634.7–1816.9) |
| MPO μg·L−1 | ||||
| Pleural effusion | 222 (135.0–402.0)# | 763 (563.0–1236.0)# | 32011 (8338–88905)#, ¶ | 87 (50–137)# |
| Serum | 436 (253–986) | 416 (229–669) | 461 (136–1340) | 412 (250–882) |
| NE μg·L−1 | ||||
| Pleural effusion | 83 (42–173)# | 258 (96–432)# | 20721 (4276–57275)#, ¶ | 23 (12–44) |
| Serum | 54 (14–88) | 42 (22–77) | 51 (22–133) | 38 (15–107) |
Data are presented as median (25th–75th percentile), unless otherwise stated. PE: pleural effusion. #: p<0.05 compared with the corresponding concentration in sera, determined by Wilcoxon signed-rank test; ¶: p<0.01 compared with each of the other PE groups determined by Kruskal–Wallis one-way ANOVA on ranks.